The present invention relates to an article of play, and more particularly to articles of play for use in the game of hit and catch.
One type of articles of play is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,617, entitled "ARTICLES OF PLAY FOR USE IN THE GAME OF CATCH." The articles can be used in the game of catch only and cannot be used in the game of hit or hit and catch.
Another type of racket or paddle-like article of play is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,374 to Chien Ping Yu, entitled "ARTICLES OF PLAY FOR USE IN THE GAME OF HIT AND CATCH," the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The article can be used in the game of both hit and catch since one of the major outer surfaces of the racket (e.g., the back) is a hard surface devoid of any irregular filamentary formations such as minihook and miniloop materials (e.g., the so-called VELCRO assembly material) and the opposed outer major surface (e.g., the front) is formed of a multitude of such irregular filamentary formations disposed on a flexible inner layer. The flexible inner layer is preferably made of a foamed or spongy material which enables the overlying outer surface to give slightly, thereby deadening the rebound from that surface and enabling that outer surface to capture the outer surface of a projectile impinging thereon where the outer surface of the impinging projectile is similarly formed with a complementary multitude of irregular filamentary formations. While the racket according to this patent enables a game of hit and catch to be played since the projectile or ball will either rebound from the hard surface or become engaged on the flexible filamentary surface (depending upon whether the projectile impinges upon the back surface or the front surface), it has not proven to be entirely satisfactory in use.
Since the racket must be rotated 180.degree. within the hand of the user if, for the same forehand or backhand action, the racket is to be switched between a "hit" and "catch" orientation, children may lack the coordination necessary to reliably effect such a change in orientation in the limited time available. Indeed, the racket may be accidentally dropped during the attempt. Furthermore, continued changes of orientation may be injurious to the elbow of a player due to the rotary twisting action required. Finally, if the object of the game is to take the opponent unawares (so that he does not know whether you will be using a "hit" or "catch" orientation), the need to rotate the racket 180.degree. in orientation may enable the opponent to detect in advance of contact between the racket and the projectile a change in orientation of the racket relative to your hand.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a racket which can be used in a game of both hit and catch.
Another object is to provide such a racket which does not require a 180.degree. rotation in order to switch between "hit" and "catch" orientations.
A further object is to provide such a racket which may be in the form of a mitt.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a racket wherein the manner of use does not permit an opponent to determine whether a projectile will be hit or caught by the racket in advance of contact between the racket and the projectile.